Torn Asunder
by Junebugsm
Summary: Once the sexual relationship between Callie and Brandon is out in the open and the media broadcasts it all over, CPS is forced to take action and takes all four minors from the home. Stef and Lena now have to put aside their own issues and problems and find a way to bring their family back together.
1. Chapter 1

**Once the sexual relationship between Callie and Brandon is out in the open and the media broadcasts it all over, CPS is forced to take action and takes all four minors from the home. Stef and Lena now have to put aside their own issues and problems and find a way to bring their family back together.**

(Takes place after **Kingdom Come (320)**. I'm not sure where this story will go or what I plan to do with it. Also, I wish I hadn't used up the title _All Hell Breaks Loose,_ because it would have fit better for this story but this title works too.)

* * *

Stef stood on her front lawn in shock as she watched four of her kids being driven away in the backs of three social services cars. She couldn't believe what was happening - how had her family gone from celebrating Callie's adoption and Brandon's eighteenth birthday to all of them them being ripped apart from each other?

"What do we do?" Lena asked shakily, breaking Stef of her train of thought.

Stef remained stunned to silence as she tried to figure out what exactly had gone wrong and what she could do about it.

"Stef?" Lena repeated, trying to pull Stef out out of her daze.

"I..." Stef began. "I..." She tried again as her mind reluctantly wrapped itself around what she was trying to say. "I don't know." She answered honestly, still staring into space in the direction the three cars had disappeared. "I don't know how to fix this." She admitted, her eyes filled with fear.

"But there has to be something we can do." Lena stated, refusing to believe anything else. She was too nervous to accept that Stef didn't already have an immediate plan. "Can't you call someone? You have to fix this." She practically ordered.

"I don't know how." Stef answered miserably, finally turning to focus on Lena. "I don't know what to do. I don't even know where to start." She said and Lena knew that for Stef to admit defeat so easily meant that things were really bad.

Lena stared back at Stef as the two of them still tried to grasp what was really happening. Slowly, one by one, tears began to fall down both their faces as they both collapsed on the front lawn sobbing uncontrollably over what had just transpired and thought back to when all this first began.

* * *

 _Stef was seething with anger as she waited for her oldest son to show up to Lena's office. She was still trying to wrap her mind around what Callie had just told them and it was taking all she had to keep from exploding. She couldn't believe that all this was happening right in front of them and they had absolutely no idea. Had they been so wrapped up in their own drama that they missed this or had they just been blissfully oblivious to the fact?_

 _Stef was pulled out of her thoughts by a knock on the office door._

 _"_ _Come in." Lena said from where she was sitting._

 _But Stef didn't wait for Brandon to enter and join them. Instead she marched straight to the door and yanked it open. "I have never hit you." Stef began angrily. "I have never hit any one of you but right now I really wish I was one of those parents." Stef fumed._

 _"_ _What did I do now?" Brandon asked in slight amusement at his mother's choice of words. But then his eyes feel on Callie and the look on her face told him exactly what he needed to know - that his moms now knew what he hoped they would never know._

 _"_ _Why?" Stef asked. "Why would you have sex with your sister?" She questioned, desperate to understand._

 _Lena quickly got up and closed the office door for there was no need for the entire school be privy to their issues._

 _Brandon just stood in the middle of Lena's office, unable to answer his mother. He hadn't been prepared for any of this. He had truly hoped and believed that one day, years from now, both he and Callie would take this secret to the grave._

 _"_ _What were you thinking?" Stef asked, still trying to find a reason behind all this._

 _She wasn't my sister." Brandon finally said, giving the only explanation he had._

 _"_ _Don't you DARE give me that." Stef yelled back at her son, her eyes flashing with rage. "You know damn well that that is not an excuse."_

 _"_ _When?" Lena interrupted before Stef burst a blood vessel._

 _"_ _Idyllwild." Brandon responded softly. "After you two left for San Diego."_

 _Stef's head immediately snapped up to Lena and Lena knew that they were both thinking the same thing - had it not been for her kiss with Monty and Jenna telling Stef then they would have still been in Idyllwild the night and Callie and Brandon wouldn't have been left alone, unsupervised._

 _Stef saw the flash of guilt that crossed Lena's face but right now she couldn't focus on that for right now they had a bigger problem to fix. Stef turned towards her son and she could see the dejected look on his face. A glance at her daughter was enough to see the sadness and fear. She had to find a way to fix this before it spiraled out of control and for that she definitely had to keep her anger in check._

 _"_ _Have you told anyone?" Stef asked both kids though she mostly looked at Brandon for she could actually see Callie's fear of her right now._

 _"_ _No." Brandon answered immediately. He hadn't told anyone - in fact he had hoped that no one besides the two of them would ever find out._

 _"_ _Callie?" Stef asked as gently as she could when the girl hadn't given her a response yet._

 _"_ _Daphne." Callie answered timidly._

 _"_ _So that's how Justina found out?" Stef questioned in surprise. She didn't expect Daphne to rat out her friend like that._

 _"_ _No." Callie said with a vehemence that surprised both her moms. "Daphne wouldn't say a word, especially to Justina." She said._

 _"_ _Maybe not in so many words but maybe she implied something or maybe Justina overheard you?" Lena suggested, also trying to figure out how the conniving woman would have found out such a personal detail._

 _"_ _Or maybe she just made a wild guess." Stef stated, realizing that maybe they were playing right into the woman's hands. "She probably doesn't know for sure."_

 _All three of the others were now looking to Stef for an explanation._

 _"_ _She got her hands on the restraining order and at the time of Callie's adoption she was questioned about her relationship with Brandon and so she just put it all together and sent out a rumor." Stef explained. "She didn't know she was right - she probably wasn't even expecting to be right. All she was really set out to do was destroy Callie's reputation."_

 _"_ _So what now?" Lena questioned, wondering where they stood in all of this. Obviously they would have to put a stop to all future relations between their two oldest kids and they would have to deal with the consequences but what about the rumors that were now flying all through the foster system?_

 _"_ _We ignore it." Stef answered. "We refuse to respond with anything besides stating that Justina is just trying to get back at Callie for outing her."_

 _"_ _Not a lie." Lena noticed Stef's avoidance of the actual topic._

 _"_ _What if they ask her directly?" Brandon stated the question that Callie was bursting to ask but was too afraid to._

 _"_ _She would never have sex with her brother." Stef replied, using the same technicality that Brandon had used just a few minutes earlier._

 _With this sorted, Stef once again turned to dealing with her children for they still had to be talked to and consequences still had to be dished out._

 _"_ _Do you understand what could have happened?" Stef asked, more to Brandon than to Callie. "They could have denied Callie her addition. She could have lost her for good."_

 _"_ _But she's already adopted now." Brandon stated uncertainly._

 _"_ _And she is going to stay that way." Stef responded, unknowingly giving Callie an assurance she had been yearning for since she told them the truth. "The two of you are never, ever to speak of this again." Stef stated clearly. "If anyone asks, you ignore it - there is no proof."_

 _Both kids nodded in acceptance, willing this whole mess away._

 _"_ _And you are never to be alone together." Stef continued just as firmly. "You two are not to be in the same room if someone else isn't around. I don't care what the excuse is - you are forbidden to be near each other and if I ever find out that you've broken this rule or god forbid you do something you're not supposed to I with drag you both to juvie myself. Have i made myself clear? She bellowed as loud as she could without being heard outside of the room._

 _Both Callie and Brandon quickly nodded their acceptance. They had expected such a rule and while they had grown to be good friends over the last fourteen months, they were just as willing to avoid temptation._

 _"_ _I can't hear you." Stef roared, her eyes fiery._

 _"_ _Yes." Callie answered._

 _"_ _Yes ma'am." Brandon added with a nod._

 _Stef was finally satisfied for while she was still angry and disappointed she knew that there was nothing she could do to change the past. All she could do was make sure this didn't repeat in the future but for right now she was just glad that this mess hadn't gotten in the way of her daughter's adoption._

 _That thought made Callie suddenly focus back on Callie and once again she could see the girl's shoulders slumped, her eyes sad and practically begging for some comfort. Stef, finally feeling done, walked over to the girl and sat down beside her. "I am so angry with you right now." She began as she took the girl's hand in her own. "You very nearly ruined your chances at this family." She added and watched Callie nod in realization as tears slowly slipped down her face. "I love you and you aren't going anywhere." Stef finally said, giving Callie a kiss on the temple as she held her close, reminding her that nothing she could do would change that fact._

Little did they know that Stef wouldn't be able to keep that promise and that it would take all the family had to find their way back to each other.


	2. Chapter 2

Jesus and Jude sat on Jesus' bed in the faded yellow room of their new foster home.

"I never thought I'd be in another foster home again." Jude admitted softly as he glanced around at the peeling paint and dirty windows.

"Me either." Jesus agreed picking something off the knee of his jeans, his mind obviously occupied with something. "We were in foster care for four years before we got to Stef and Lena and this is the first time I've ever been separated from Mariana." He said sadly.

"I should have known Callie would mess this up for us." Jude said in resignation. "She always finds a way to ruin things and people always think she's being all sweet and protective but the truth is, it's better when she's not around." He admitted, clearly wishing that wasn't the case.

"Yeah, well I wouldn't lay all the blame on her." Jesus added angrily. "Brandon always thinks he's better than everyone else and acts like he's entitled to whatever he wants."

"Callie used to say that the real kid was like royalty." Jude remembered. He never imagined he'd be referring to this family but considering the circumstances, it was the most appropriate.

"He gets away with everything." Jesus agreed. "Yeah Stef makes a big show of yelling at him but after that there's nothing. Lena won't discipline him because she already feels like she had to earn her place in his life and his dad doesn't want to alienate him either." Jesus grumbled enviously. "Golden boy just has it all."

"How come they didn't take him?' Jude questioned curiously, remembering that the social workers who had showed up only asked for the four younger kids. He didn't think it was just because Brandon had spent the night at his father's house and was only coming back after lunch.

"Because he's the real kid." Jesus replied. "CPS is only involved with us."

"But we didn't even do anything." Jude pointed out miserably. "It was him and Callie so why are we getting sent away?"

"Because the system sucks." Jesus answered his younger brother. "The biological kid had sex with his foster sister and that makes the house unsafe for us. He put all of us in danger and so we got taken away, just like how the Olmsted's are no longer allowed to foster because of what Liam did to Callie."

"So we can never go back?' Jude asked aghast. Up until how he had thought that this was only temporary until a proper punishment could be given to Brandon and Callie but suddenly Jesus was admitting that this could be permanent and Jude was even more afraid.

"I don't know." Jesus answered honestly. He didn't know anything anymore and the system seemed to just change up rules as and when it pleased so there was really no way to even assume the outcome.

"I thought once we were adopted then we couldn't get taken away." Jude said, close to tears. "I thought that was it."

"So did I." Jesus replied. "But obviously that's not true. We will always be the outsiders." He said bitterly. "Brandon never got taken away, just us. He screws up, literally, and we get punished."

"What will happen to us now?" Jude questioned of their current situation.

"I don't know." Jesus admitted with a shrug. "Right now all I want to know is where Mariana is, I don't really care about anyone else."

Jesus' statement was mostly to show his frustration but it was enough to upset the younger boy for he seemed to have lost everyone. He was taken away from his family and the one person he always had in his corner was the cause of it.

"Hey, at least we're together right?" Jesus offered, noticing his little brother's face. He was angry and he was worried about his sister but just like the twins, Jude hadn't done anything to deserve this either and so taking it out on him wasn't going to help anyone.

Jude smiled slightly as he nodded. Maybe Jesus and Mariana were closer than ever but all he wanted was to still belong to his family and as long as he still had Jesus, he knew they would manage.

* * *

"Hey princess." A girl with dirty blond hair said to Mariana as Mariana made a face at the chicken in front of her. "It's food, just eat it."

"Hold on, let me see if I can find a silver platter to serve you with." Another girl with a nose-ring teased scarcastically, earning a laugh from the table.

"That's enough." Rita said firmly. "You've all been the new kid, remember that please."

"Yeah but we've never been princesses." The first blond girl replied under her breath as she glared at a nervous Mariana.

Mariana had only been at Girls United for three hours but already she'd managed to make every girl dislike her. The first incident had been the moment she entered the room she would be staying in and noticed the clean but yellowed and worn bedspread.

 _"_ _Um, don't I get new, sealed stuff?" Mariana had asked as she eyed a rip on one end._

 _"_ _What do you think this is, the Plaza Hotel?" Her roommate scoffed and proceeded to call her princess from then on, a term that was soon picked up by the two other girls in the house._

Mariana sighed as she stuck her fork into a french fry on her plate and reluctantly took a bite, sure that she was eating more calories in that one bite than she'd eaten at all of breakfast. How she wished she could just go back home and make this all go away.

"It's not poison." The nose-ring girl said. "I'm not such a bad cook."

"It's not that." Mariana admitted. "It's just that it's fried."

"So?" The blond girl questioned.

"Don't you know how unhealthy that is?" Mariana asked. "There must be over three hundred calories in just a handful of fries and the average teenager required only sixteen-hundred calories in a whole day. At this rate we'll be eating at least twice that in a day."

"Then eat your chicken." Nose-ring girl said. "It's grilled, that's healthy right?."

"I'm a vegetarian." Mariana explained. "The way they treat the animals before they slaughter them is inhumane and you can never be sure that what you buy is cage-free or at least free-range."

By now the entire table had stopped eating and was just staring at Mariana and she was sure that she'd managed to change everyone's minds about their diet, right up until the blond girl spoke up.

"Look princess, eat or don't eat, I don't care but just shut up and let us eat okay." The blond girl said before she turned back to her food as the others joined her, the topic of slaughter and torture now hot at the table.

Mariana sighed as she looked back down at her plate and picked at the french fries - the lesser of the two evils.

* * *

"So you messed up." The dark skinned girl shrugged as she watched Callie unpack. "Just look at all the good you've done. Kids everywhere are standing up for themselves because of you."

Callie listened to her roommate at the group home but she didn't really care about any of it. All she cared about right now was that her entire family was falling apart and she was the cause. There hadn't even been time to talk before CPS was yanking them out of the house. She had watched Jude cry as he followed Jesus into a car and the only thing she could be thankful for was the fact that he wasn't alone.

"Look, no matter what you do, some people are going to love you and others are going to hate you so you might as well just do what's best for you." Callie's roommate stated with a shrug. "And just ignore the other girls here, they're mostly all talk anyways."

Callie gave her an unenthusiastic nod as she stuffed the last of her meager belongings into a drawer and then flopped down onto her bed, hoping that this girl would get the hint and just leave her alone. Honestly she preferred the other girls in the house calling her a whore and a bitch over this one constantly trying to make her feel better. She appreciated the support but the truth was that she'd not only messed up and she deserved what she was getting but unfortunately she'd dragged everyone she loved through it as well.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:**

Thanks for all the support and reviews. I would like to clear a few things up because people have been asking questions.

This story is not in an AU. Everything that happened Seasons 1 - 3 are exactly the same. This story is how I imagined Season 4 would have been. The change begins after Callie admits to the moms about the sex - Stef and Lena then call Brandon to Lena's office as well (The flashback in chapter 1) and then a few days later the younger four (minors who happen to be the adopted kids) are removed from the home.

These points will be cleared up in the story itself but I will add it here just so you are clear - Brandon is already an adult by the beginning of season 4 and so he cannot be taken away by CPS. He was a minor when he had sex with Callie which does not make it statutory rape.

The only thing that does not come into this story is Nick bringing a gun to school. Instead of all that lock down drama the moms yell at Callie and Brandon, come up with suitable punishments and then the family goes home and goes back to normal until the twins, Callie and Jude are taken.

To the reviewer that said I was wrong for saying that CPS would take adopted kids away and treat them different from biological kids - you based your assumption on something a sixteen-year-old said in anger. Maybe next time wait for the story to progress before you jump to conclusions and accuse me of not doing my research.

Thanks again for reading and I hope you enjoy this story. I have bits and pieces worked out but I'm still working on the long-term plot so bear with me.

* * *

Stef and Lena had made their way down to the CPS office to get whatever details they could. They had been arguing with several people for the last twenty minutes but they were still no closer to even finding out where their kids had been taken, let alone to getting them back. They had been sent from one person to another but still no one either seemed to have the information or were not willing to divulge it.

"I have a right to know where my kids are." Stef yelled at the fourth CPS worker that had once again dismissed her stating that he had work to do. "You cannot keep this information from me. I demand to speak with your superior." Stef continued, her anger boiling further.

"What's going on?" A voice interrupted the argument and both Stef and Lena turned around to find their old social worker standing there.

"Bill, thank god." Stef said as she walked over to him, hoping he'd be more helpful. "They took the kids, all of them."

"I heard." Bill replied sadly. "I'm sorry."

"You have to help us get them back." Stef went on. "This was a mistake."

"Come with me." Bill suggested as he led the two to his cubical where he searched the system for the four kids in question. "Okay, Jesus and Jude are both being fostered by the Carter's on Elm Street, a good couple; I've dealt with them myself, fostered several boys ever since their own two left for college. Mariana is at Girl's United, I believe you know the woman in charge there." Bill said and watched as both women nodded. "Callie is in a group home in La Quinta."

"In LA?" Lena asked in surprise.

"That's two hours away." Stef commented.

"Why wasn't she sent to Girls United with Mariana?" Lena asked, wondering why her boys were placed together but her girls were separated.

"They must have felt it was safer for her up there." Bill suggested. "The media is after her, they've been questioning us a lot as well. The whole system is now on surveillance."

Stef was about to respond when a man came into the room dressed in a suit and tie, looking hassled and annoyed.

"You wish to speak to me?" The balding man asked Stef and Lena as they turned around to face him.

"Stef, Lena, this is our supervisor, Mr. Turner." Bill introduced, his dislike for the man fairly clear on his face.

"Yes, hi, I'm Stef Adams Foster and my children were removed from our home this morning…" Stef began as she reached out to shake the man's hand but was cut off.

"I know who you are ma'am." Mr. Turner stated somewhat flippantly. "Considering your daughter has created quite a stir for our entire system I've kept a close watch on your case." He explained.

"Well we want to know how we can get our children back." Stef said. "They were taken from us based on allegations made by a woman that was practically selling children and now my kids are paying the price." She said, equally annoyed.

"They can't be returned until the investigation is complete." Mr. Turner stated matter-of-factly. "It's a requirement for the children's safety."

"Investigation?" Stef questioned in surprise. "What investigation?"

"To determine whether or not your home is a safe place for these children." Mr. Turner replied. "Considering the allegations that your son had sex with his foster sister, it was imperative that we assure their safety."

"You have got to be kidding me." Stef said aghast. "Justina Marks was the one who was selling kids to the highest bidder and because of something she claimed our kids are being taken?"

"It's a requirement." Mr. Turner replied as though they were talking about a packet of post-its or potato chips, not children. "We have to look into it."

"So guys like Jim Pearson get to be foster parents even though he couldn't have met a single one of the requirements but we," She pointed to herself and Lena, "have to prove ourselves?"

"Look, you were the ones that wanted a change in the system." Mr. Turner pointed out in annoyance. "Well, we now have to look into everything more closely." He spat, obviously annoyed with the extra work and the fact that they were all now under a societal microscope.

"We have been fostering for close to ten years; we adopted our kids, you can't just come and take them from us." Stef pointed out, aware that CPS was no longer involved with their family.

"Yes we can, if we believe that the children are in danger." Mr. Turner clarified. "And I would like to make it clear that we didn't take them because they were adopted."

"But you just said you had to make sure they were safe because my son may have had a relationship with his foster sister." Stef argued.

"It's not your fostering abilities that are being questioned." Mr. Turner said. "It's your parenting capabilities. If your biological son had been a minor, he would have been taken too."

"Why?" Stef practically screamed. She was more confused than ever for she didn't understand any of what was going on.

"Your kids have been getting into a lot of trouble." Mr. Turner listed. "People are starting to dig and they are finding more and more about you. Yes, it started because of allegations spread by Justina Marks but the truth is that this relationship happened for quite a while and there is evidence that you were aware of it."

"We didn't know about any of it until the reporters came up to our daughter." Stef cleared up.

"Maybe you didn't know about the sex but you were aware that the two had feelings for each other. You took out a restraining order against your son because of it, isn't that right?" Mr. Turner said smugly.

"That was months ago and we thought it was over." Stef replied. "The social worker and the judge that granted Callie's adoption already asked us all these questions."

"Maybe, and if that had been the only case then it might have been that simple but further investigations show other problems regarding your children. Your other daughter was suspended from school for selling drugs to classmates, your biological son was arrested for selling fake ID's and your youngest son broke into a house in the middle of the night."

"Those are just minor mistakes, kids make mistakes." Stef argued. "You're saying that a group of friends stealing a bottle of whisky from a friend's house is worse than a foster parent killing a kid? How are we being checked first - check the thousands of other homes where kids are actually being abused. I have personally taken kids out of homes like that - Callie and Jude for one, Kiara's foster parents were drug dealers and I shut them down. Jim pierson twice. My daughter was locked up by one foster parents because she was taken from our home. It's like all of you are just determined to add as many spokes in the wheels.

"Stef don't make it worse." Lena whispered to her wife when she noticed people around stop what they were doing in order to watch. Obviously their story was now circulating quickly due to the media and people were curious about hem.

Stef turned towards Lena in surprise. She hadn't expected Lena to try and stop her. All she wanted was for her kids to come home and she didn't care how she went about making that happen.

"I'm going to court." Stef threatened the man standing in front of her before storming out of the building slamming the door behind her.


	4. Chapter 4

"Do you approve of one god damn thing I do?" Stef yelled as she spun around when they finally entered their house and Lena tried to talk to her one more time.

"I just didn't want you to make it harder for us to get the kids back Stef." Lena tried to reason. "These are the people that determine when we get them back."

"Well what do you suggest I do?" Stef questioned, anger flashing in her eyes. "Sit there and say please and thank you until someone is willing to listen? If you don't like it then why the hell don't you come up with a plan?"

"I'm not saying we don't do anything." Lena replied, her own temper rising. "I'm just saying that creating enemy's isn't going to do us any good. All I'm suggesting is we come up with a plan and try to fix this instead of just... acting spontaneously." She said with a pause, trying to find a way to make her comment without angering her wife further.

"Why don't you just say what you mean." Stef shot with an emotionless tone.

"Fine, you are constantly making rash decisions that affect all of us." Lena stated, as per her wife's request. "You made Callie lie to Robert about the emancipation and we got lucky that he finally saw reason and gave up his rights. You just unilaterally decided to bring Ana home, regardless of how it would make Mariana, Jesus or even me to feel. You barely listened to my opinion when you had to have the mastectomy and then judged me for my choice after giving me only half the information and now you are storming into the Social Services Department and making threats to the same people that have custody of our children, we can't afford to anger them."

"Our family is falling apart, literally falling apart." Stef yelled back. "Our babies have been taken and you are worried about how I get them back? You never come up with ways to fix any of these problems. All you do is ask me what I can do and then sit back and criticize my attempts. What were you doing about Callie, huh? Sitting with Robert for lunch and smiling politely wasn't doing anyone any good. It was the fact that she was trying to get emancipated to avoid living with him that ultimately made him realize that she belonged with us. And do you think I would have brought Ana here had we not planned to adopt her baby? It _was_ our family I was thinking of."

"Okay fine, I understand that." Lena accepted. "I know we don't see eye to eye on these things but I know you are trying your best but I really don't think we can afford to make mistakes here. We have to follow the rules." She once again tried to reason.

"There are no rules." Stef replied. "There is no standard, don't you see. Our kids are taken because of their mistakes but other kids are forced to live in abusive, dangerous homes and no one cares. It all depends on who's in charge and how much money they can get out of it. I know you wish things were more honest and straightforward but the truth is that too many people are corrupt and sometimes even we have to do whatever is necessary for the greater good.

"I just don't want us to dig ourself a deeper hole." Lena explained and while Stef would like the same thing as well, she knew that sometimes you had to just play dirty.

So what would you do Lena?" Stef questioned. "What is your plan? Wait it out. Who knows how long this investigation is going to last. And they are questioning whether or not we are fit to be parents Lena. This isn't about a kid that's trouble; this is about all of us. If they think we aren't capable we may never get them back."

Lena could hear to fear in Stef's voice and she knew that Stef was acting both on fear and emotion as well as determination and she knew that no matter what happened, Stef would never stop fighting to get the kids back. So far, despite her methods, Stef had always come through for all them and she just had to trust once again.

But before Lena had a chance to say any of this Brandon walked in the door from his night with his father with his bag slung over his shoulder and a box of leftover lunch in a styrofoam box in his hand.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Stef yelled at her son the moment he was visible from the living room.

"Now what did I do?" Brandon questioned as his shoulders slumped. He had been trying to make amends for his errors for the last few days now and it seemed that while his moms were still obviously still upset with him and keeping a very close eye on both him and Callie, they had finally gotten done with talking about it.

"You had sex with your sister." Stef said again, aware that he already knew this was upsetting and that she'd already yelled at him about it. But right now that was all she could do for he was the only one still there she didn't have a concrete plan yet. Brandon and Lena were the only two around and so they were the ones at the receiving end of her anger.

Brandon looked like he was about to say something but just changed his mind for what could he say that he hadn't already said before. No matter how hard he tried, he knew he could never undo any of this and no matter how much time passed he knew that a part of his mom would never forgive him.

"They took them." Stef said, still angry but also so afraid. "They took all of them."

"Who?" Brandon asked with a frown, wondering what exactly his mother was talking about.

"CPS." Stef explained in a rather aggressive tone. She took a step towards her son trying to show him just how much damage his one stupid night of passion had cost them all.

"But… they're adopted now." Brandon tried to justify as he dropped his bag to the ground, unable to hold it's weight as though it was filled with rocks instead of just a set of dirty clothes. "I thought they couldn't take them. I thought..."

"So did we." Stef explained. "But they weren't taken because they were adopted kids, they were taken because they were minors in a home that proved to be unsafe for them."

"I would never hurt them." Brandon said, his eyes filled with pain at what they were implying. "I would neve… I… She wasn't my sister. She wasn't even living here." Brandon stuttered as his eyes filled with tears as realized that his mistakes had far worse repercussions than he'd originally thought.

"That doesn't make it right and you know it." Stef said, too worked up and upset to keep it all in any longer. "What was this, some kind of message? You didn't want us to take them in?" She questioned, desperately trying to understand; hoping for something more than just teenage lust.

"How can you say that?" Brandon asked, tears slipping down his face now. "I love them. The twins have been here so long I can barely even remember a time when they weren't a part of our family."

"Then why ruin everything Brandon?" Stef asked as she gritted her teeth. "Why take that risk?"

Lena watched her wife and son argue back and forth. She wanted to interrupt; she wanted to understand where both of them were coming from but she couldn't for both of them were right but both of them were equally wrong.

"I'm sorry." Brandon said again, for lack of anything better to say. "I didn't know this would happen. We didn't think…"

But before he could finish his statement Stef interrupted him. "That's right, you didn't _think._ " She spat. "What exactly did you think we meant when we told you that it was illegal for you and Callie to have any kind of relationship? What were you expecting, that they'd say 'oh, okay, if you think you're in love then my all means fuck away?" Stef yelled as she practically shook with rage.

"Why are you putting it all on me?" Brandon asked as he saw the merciless look in his mother's eyes. "It wasn't _just_ me, Callie was a part of this too." He cried like he was ten years old.

"You knew better Brandon." Stef replied, ignoring the sight in front of her. "Callie was struggling to get over her past and she doesn't have the best record for good decisions but I warned you about this and you ignored me more than once. You have everything in your life but you couldn't just let her go; she had so much more to lose."

"That's not fair." Brandon argued, hating how his mother always pushed aside his feelings; always dismissed his pain.

"LIFE ISN'T FAIR." Stef screamed back, desperate for her son to accept that fact. Lena reached out for her arm to try and calm her down but she instantly shrugged out of the grasp, unwilling to be patronized.

Brandon looked at the fire in his mother's eyes and then he glanced back at Lena and noticed that while she obviously did feel some sympathy for him, she was also disappointed in his actions and she too blamed him for the outcome. With a sinking heart he realized that no matter what - even after the kids came back home - he would never be forgiven for this.

Brandon chose not to argue any further for there was no point but instead he just turned to walk away - out of frustration and anger but also because he got the feeling that they didn't want him around right now.

"Brandon." Stef called out after her son's retreating figure.

But Brandon didn't turn around but instead flung the box of his leftover lunch across the floor creating a mess of chicken wings and fries as he climbed the two steps out of the living room towards the staircase.

"BRANDON." Stef yelled louder this time, her voice filled with demanding authority.

"WHAT?" Brandon shouted back as he spun around, wondering what more his mother could throw at him to make him feel ever worse than he already did.

But much to his surprise Stef didn't yell any more, in fact she didn't say a word as she practically ran up to her baby boy and pulled him into her arms and held on to him tight; almost as though she were holding all five of her babies.

"We'll fix this." Stef whispered into her son's shoulder as she squeezed him even tighter and felt his arms go around her as well as he hung on to her for dear life. "We're gonna fix this, I promise."

Brandon shook as sobs took over as he slumped in his mother's arms. "I'm sorry." He wept. "I'm so, so sorry."

"I know." Stef replied as she rubbed his back soothingly. At the end of the day she was his mother too and she was the one he needed and so no matter what else was happening and how upset she was she had to put aside her own feelings and make the time for her son.


End file.
